Pumping mechanism



April 4, 1939- F. w. HARRIS 2,152,802

PUMPING MECHANI SM Filed July 2, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l //Vl N7OR 6/ 5 FO D 1M HARR/S HARR/QK/ECH, Fos TER & 54 RR/S A TTOR/VEKS.

I April 4, 1939. w. HARRIS Filed July 2, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ell Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PUMPING MECHANISM Ford W. Harris, Los Angeles, Calif. Application July 2, 1937, Serial No. 151,681

. 3 Claims. (Cl. 103-46) While my invention may be used to pump almost any sort of liquid and is particularly adapted for use in pumping oil from oil wells the description will be simplified by describing the operation of the invention when applied to pumping water from water wells.

It is an object of my invention to provide a pumping mechanism which is driven by an electric motor which is adapted to be lowered into a Well, reservoir or tank containing the liquid to be pumped so that the motor is entirely below the surface of said liquid. This enables the motor to be placed immediately adjacent to the pump proper and does away with any necessity for long shafts between the motor and the pump. The advantages of such submersible motor pumps is well recognized and other inventors have devised similar mechanisms. It is a further object of my invention to provide such a submersible motor pump in which the motor is surrounded, insulated and cooled by an oil or other insulating liquid which is also not new, there being similar motor pumps now on the market.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a submersible motor pump in which the insulating oil which also serves as a cooling and lubricating medium is entirely enclosed by walls impervious to the oil so that no packing glands or seals are necessary and there'is no danger of the fluid to be pumped which surrounds the motor pump becoming mixed or emulsified with the oil. This also is not new as Mendenhall and Van Horn show in their Patents 1,842,457, patented January 28, 1932, and 1,891,711, patented December 20, 1932, such a pump. My invention is an improvement on those shown in these patents in that it shows a submersible motor pump which has an improved mechanism and in which there are a minimum of wearing parts exposed to the fluid to be pumped so that highly abrasive liquids may be pumped without excessive wear on surfaces that slide on each other. My invention is also an improvement on those shown in said patents in that no gearing or similar speed reducing mechanism is necessary. Further objects and advantages will be made evident hereinafter.

In the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of my invention showing the principles upon which it operates without showing details of construction it being my opinion that such details of construction could be readily supplied by any engineer, skilled in the art, in such a manner as to com struct a pump for any service for which it may be adapted.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation through a pump adapted to be used in a water well.

Figs. 3 to 14 inclusive show horizontal sections 5 through the pump shown in Fig. 2 on planes represented by similarly numbered lines on Fig. 2.

Fig. 15 is a diagrammatic representation of the working parts of a primary valve.

The pumps shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 work 10 upon the same principle and have similar operative parts. Referring to the pump shown in Fig.

1, there are provided certain chambers or spaces in which the water to be pumped is carried, these spaces being an eduction space it through which lie the water is forced upwardly, a displacement chamber 2, a primary expansion space it, a pilot valve space It, a secondary expansion space l5, and an inlet space I 6 which is at all times in open communication with an outer space I! containing the water or other liquid to be pumped. Since the pump is equally well adapted to pump either oil or water, the space ll may be assumed and described as containing water although one of the principal uses of the pump is to pump oil from oil wells. As far as contamination of the oil used to surround and insulate the motor, crude oil such as is ordinarily produced in oil wells is nearly as bad as water if it is allowed to mix with and contaminate the oil surrounding the motor since it usually contains impurities which would very quickly destroy the insulation of the motor if such crude oil were allowed to mix with the insulating oil. The space H will be called the water space. In addition to the spaces 3 above described there is provided a main valve space I8 and a main valve piston space I 9. All the above described spaces and chambers are enclosed or defined by walls or other structures as will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawings.

In describing the operation of the pump it will be assumed that it is pumping water from the space I! into the eduction space H which is surrounded by a pipe 2| which leads to any point at which it is desired to deliver water. This water is forced from the displacement chamber l2 into the eduction space H through an opening 22 which may be closed by a working valve 23. Water may be drawn into the displacement chamber 12 from the outer space l1 through an opening 24 which may be closed by a standing valve 25. The terms working valve and standing valve are used as a matter of convenience and they have no other special significance. The

working valve 23 serves to allow water to flow freely from the chamber l2 into the space H closing to prevent a reverse flow and the standing valve 26 serves to allow water to flow freely from the space H into the chamber l2 closing to prevent a reverse flow. The displacement chamber is surrounded by the shell 26 of the pump and may conveniently be cylindrical in form about a vertical axis.

Situated inside the chamber I2 is a primary expansible member 3|. This member is a cylindrical bellows of the general type known in the art as a Sylphon. It may be made of metal. oil resistant rubber, or any moderately elastic substance and is expansible and contractable along its major axis which extends vertically in the plane of the paper as the member is shown in the drawings. It forms a flexible wall inside the expansion chamber l2, and being secured in fluid tight relationship with the walls of said chamber which is otherwise fluid tight except for the openings 22 and 24, the expansion and contraction of the member 3| tends to reduce or increase the amount of water in the chamber l2, water being expelled from the chamber l2 through the opening 22 as the member 3| expands and water being drawn into the chamber |2 through the opening 24 as the member 3| contracts. The member 3| also forms a separating member between the chamber 2 and the expansion space l3. A pipe is shown which encloses a passage 32 leading from the space |3 to the main valve chamber I8. The space I3 is fluid tight except for the passage 32 through which the oil surrounding the motor and serving as the cooling lubricating and insulating medium therefor enters and leaves the space I3. This 011 will hereinafter be simply referred to as oil and when the term oil is used it is to be understood that it refers to this particular oil. It is however not intended to use the term oil in its usual sense as any sort of a fluid that will cool, lubricate, and insulate the motor may be used as a mechanical equivalent.

A secondary or pilot valve 33 is placed in the space H sliding in a cylindrical portion of said space in fluid tight relationship with the walls thereof. Pipes are shown surrounding passages 34 and 35 leading from the space 14 to the space l9, pipes also being shown surrounding passages 36 and 31 leading from the space H to the outlet and inlet side of a pump 36. Fluid in the passage 36 at all times that the pump is operating is at a higher pressure than the-fluid in the passage 31. The pilot valve 33 is moved up and down by a piston rod 4|. When the valve 33 is in its upper position the passages 34 and 36 are in communication and the passages 35 and 31 are in communication. When the valve 33 is in its lower position the passages 35 and 36 are in communication and the passages 34 and 31 are in communication. Therefore when valve 33 is in its upper position oil under pressure is admitted to the space |9 above a piston 42 sliding therein,

. the space l9 below the piston 42 being connected through the passages 35 and 31 with the exhaust side of the pump 36. This tends to force the piston 42 downwardly. When the valve 33 is in its lower position oil under pressure is admitted below the piston 42, the space above the piston being connected through the passages 34 and 31 with the exhaust side of the pump 36- which tends to move the piston 42 upwardly. The piston 42 is connected through a piston rod 43 with a main valve 44, which slides vertically, as shown,

in the space I8 in fluid tight relationship with the cylindrical walls thereof. This space I8 is connected through the passage 32 with space l3. It is also connected through a passage 45 with thespace l5 and through a passage 46 with the inlet or exhaust side of the pump 38. A passage 41 connects the space l8 with the pressure side of the pump 38. The valves 33 and 44 are the ordinary type of piston valves having openings therethrough so that the spaces above and below each valve are at all times in open communication with each other.

when the main valve 44 is in its lower position, as shown in Fig. l, the pressure side of the pump is space l8, and the passage 45 with the space IS, the space l3 being connected through the passage 32, around the reduced portion of the valve 44, and the passage 46 with the exhaust side of the pump 38. When the valve 44 is in this lower position the pump acts to draw oil from the space l3 and deliver it to the space |5. This tends to contract the upper expansible member 3| and to expand a similar secondary expansible member 5| in the space Hi. When the valve 44 is in its upper position oil under pressure is delivered through the passage 41, through the interior passages in valve 44, the space l8, and the passage 32 to the space l3, oil being withdrawn from the space |5 through the passage 45, around the reduced portion of the valve 44, and the passage 46 to the intake side of the pump. This tends to expand the primary expansible member 3| and contract the secondary expansible member 5|. The secondary expansible member 5| has a connecting rod 4| rigidly secured thereto, this rod passing in slidable but fluid tight relationship through the wall separating the chambers l4 and I5. The rod 4| slides in the valve 33, there being two collars 54 and 55 on the rod 4| so that the rod 4| moves the valve 33 up and down during the concluding portion of its stroke in either direction. The pump 38 may be of any desired form but must be capable of exerting a pressure 'in excess of that needed to raise the water through the eduction space H to the point of discharge. 4

The sequence of operation of the pump shown in Fig. 1 is as follows:

The pump 38 being continuously driven by a motor, not shown, pressure is built up in the passages 36 and 41 and suction is exerted in the passages 31 and 46. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, the main valve 44 is held in the position shown by oil under pressure on top oi connected through the passage 41, the

the piston 42. With the parts in this position,

the pump 38 draws oil out of the space l3 and forces it into the space 5. The member 3| is therefore retracted and the amount of water in the space I2 is increased, thiswater flowing from the water space "through the passage 24, the standing valve 25 lifting for this purpose. The working valve 23 remains seated, thus preventing water from flowing through the passage 22.

As oil is forcedinto the space I5 the lower expansible member 5| is expanded and moves the rod 4| downwardly. The rod 4| slides freely in the valve 33 without moving it until the member 5| is nearly fully expanded. At this point the collar 54 strikes the valve 33 pulling it downwardly. This shifts the pressure on the piston 42, suction being exerted through the passages 34 and 31 and pressure being exerted through the passages 35 and 36. This causes the piston 42 to of the rod 43 into its extreme upper position. This change in the positon of the main valve 44 causes oil under pressure to be delivered to the space |3 through passage 32 from passage 41, through the interior passages in valve 44, and the space l8 oil being withdrawn from space l5 through passage 45 and passage 46. This causes the member 3| to start to expand and the member 5| to start to collapse. As the member 3| expands it forces water out of the space l2 through the opening 22 into the space H, the working valve 23 lifting to allow this and the standing valve 25 seating to prevent water from flowing from the space |2' to the space H through the opening 24. As the member 3| expands the member 5| contracts, moving the rod upwardly. The rod 4| slides in the pilot valve 33 without moving the valve 33 until the member 5| is nearly fully contracted when the collar 55 strikes the pilot valve 33 and moves it into its upper position as shown in the drawings. This shifts the pressure on the piston 42 and it is forced downwardly until the piston 32 and main valve 54 assume the position shown in the drawings. The mechanism has then completed one cycle and starts to repeat the cycle as previously described.

The volume of oil carried inside the mechanism is just suflicient to flll the spaces l3 and i5 and the various passages and cavities with the parts in the position shown in the drawings. The valve M should be proportioned as shown in Fig. 15 so that as the valve 36 moves, the exhaust passage 56 at the central portion of the stroke of the valve is entirely closed off from both the passages 65 and 32. The valve M moves quite quickly, but during this portion of the stroke the pump 38 may pull a vacuum in the pipe 56 unless the piston 52 moves fast enough to prevent this.

During the interval the exhaust port 46 is shut ofi, both of the passages 35 and 32 are open to receive oil from the space it. This may result in a slight overtravel or over expansion of one or both of the members 3| and 5| but it prevents throttling the pump 38, the pressure side of which always has a full outlet. If any vacuum has been caused in any part of the system it is immediately filled with oil when the main valve it reaches its final position.

It will be seen that the mechanism produces much the same result as an ordinary piston pump, water being drawn into the space I2 through the passage 24 from the space ll as the member 3| contracts and forced out of the space l2 through the passage 22 into the eduction space H as the member 3| expands. An advantage of this arrangement over an ordinary piston pump is that there is no piston to wear, which is a very great advantage when pumping an abrasive or gritty material. A further advantage is that the pump 38 can be run continuously at full speed and the valves 33 and M and the piston 42 move entirely in clean oil at all times.

When it is desired to place the pump in a well, it may be arranged as shown in Figs. 2 to 14 inclusive. The valves 23 and 25 may be placed in a removable ball cage |U| which has a conical seat. The cage l0! has hooks I03 on its upper end so that it may be removed by a suitable fishing stem not shown which is lowered on a cable through the pipe 2|. This arrangement forms no part of the invention described herein, being merely a convenient way of removing the valves for replacement without disturbing the remainder of the mechanism.

eral form shown in Fig. 9 or it may be a turbine or some form of positive displacement pump. The pump 38 is driven by a shaft III which also carries a rotor 2 of an electric motor, the stator H3 of which is fixed in casing H4. On each stroke of the member 3| oil is forced through openings H6 into the interior of the pump casing, flowing through passages H5 in the stator H3 and through the passage 32 which also connects into the bottom of the motor casing. The oil thus flows alternately up and down through the motor casing. If the members 3| and 5| are of thin metal, which is entirely practical, the oil is cooled while therein since the spaces l2 and I6 are at all times filled with water. It is thus possible to very efliciently cool the motor by this circulation of oil. The members 3| and 5| can be formed of very thin metal since they always have equal fluid pressures on both sides thereof. The motor is driven through an armored submarine cable |2| which extends upwardly through the well to any source of electric supply. The cable is sealed in the casing ||4 where it enters the pump. The use of such cables is not new, there being at least two submersible motor pumps now on the marget which use such cables.

The term well as used herein is used generally to include any well, reservoir, tank, or the like which contains the fluid to be pumped.

It will be noted that in the pump shown in Fig. 2 the oil used as a means for expanding and contracting the members 3| and 5| is also used to cool the motor and lubricate the moving parts. This oil is at all times inside a sealed space, there being no shafts or other moving members passing through the walls thereof. Experience has shown that where moving parts can be placed in oil carried in an absolutely sealed container that the mechanism will function for years without renewal of the oil and with very little wear on the moving parts.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the invention illustrated therein is embodied in a pump which is entirely self-contained and which may be suspended inside the casing of an oil or water well by the eduction pipe 2| through which fluid is raised from the no power transmitting member passes through this casing and that it is therefore unnecessary to provide any seals or stufling boxes. The insulating fluid is entirely surrounded by a fluidimpervious wall. The electric conductors |2| pass through this casing in fluid-tight relationship so that no leakage of fluid through the casing is possible. The casing having been once filled with insulating fluid this fluid is permanently sealed inside the casing. This insulating fluid may, of course, be any oil, or the like, which has suitable lubricating and electrical insulating properties. The pump 38, as shown, is a gear pump and it is used to establish a pressure differential on the insulating fluid. In the diagram (Fig. 1), the pump is shown as establishing a high pressure in the pipe or passage 41 and a low pressure in the pipe or passage 31. This pressure diiferential is applied to the expansible member 3| in such a manner as to expand and contract it through suitable means, such as the main valve 44, which is controlled by the pilot valve 33. The

pilot valve 33 is actuated by suitable means such as the secondary expansible member 5|.

It is old in the art to use the expansion and contraction of an expansible member to increase or decrease the amount of fluid in a closed chamber in which the member is placed and to provide suitable valves for causing the flow of fluid into and out of said chamber to produce a pumping action, as shown, for example in the patent to Jones, No. 1,408,208, patented February 28, 1922. It is essential to the successful operation of the invention that a continuous liquid-impervious casing be used; that is, a casing having no sliding joints formed therein.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a pumping mechanism, the combination of an eduction pipe through which liquid is to be raised; walls forming a pump chamber; a standing valve adapted to close an opening leading from said pump chamber to a source of liquid supply in such a manner as to prevent liquid from flowing from said pump chamber to said source, said standing valve being so constructed as to permit a free flow of liquid from said source to said chamber; a working valve adapted to close an opening between said pump chamber and said eduction pipe in such a manner as to prevent liquid from flowing from said eduction pipe to said chamber, said working valve being so constructed as to permit liquid to flow freely from said chamber into said eduction pipe; a primary expansible member forming a deformable fluidtight wall between said pump chamber and a primary expansion space, said member being so placed that upon expanding it decreases the amount of fluid in said pump chamber and increases the amount of fluid in said primary expansion space; a secondary expansible member forming a fluid-tight wall of a secondary expansion space and separating the fluid in said secondary expansion space from the fluid of the source of supply; a pressure producing means adapted to deliver fluid from an exhaust space to a pressure space in such a manner that the fluid in said pressure space is at a higher pressure than the fluid in said exhaust space; a main valve adapted when in one or first extreme position to connect said pressure space with said primary expansion space and in the other or second extreme position to connect said exhaust space with said primary expansion space; and means for moving said valve from a first extreme position to its other or second extreme position as said secondary expansible member approaches its fully expanded position and then moving said valve from its second to its first position as said secondary expansible member approaches its fully collapsed position. a

2. In a pumping mechanism, the combination of: an eduction pipe through which liquid is to be raised; walls forming a pump chamber; a standing valve adapted to close an opening leading from said pump chamber to a source of liquid supply in such a manner as to prevent liquid from flowing from said pump chamber to said source, said standing valve being so constructed as to permit a free flow of liquid from said source to said chamber; a working valve adapted to close an t opening between said pump chamber and said eduction pipe in such a manner as to prevent liquid from flowing from said eduction pipe to said chamber, said working valve being so constructed as to permit liquid to flow freely from said i chamber into said eduction pipe; a primary expansible member formins a deformable fluidtight wall between said pump chamber and a primary expansion space, said member being so placed that upon expanding it decreases the amount of fluid in said pump chamber and increases the amount of fluid in said primary expansion space; a secondary expansible member forming a fluid-tight wall of a secondary expansion space and separating the fluid in said secondary expansion space from the fluid of the source of supply; a pressure producing means adapted to deliver fluid from an exhaust space to a pressure space in such a manner that the fluid in said pressure space is at a higher pressure than the fluid in said exhaust space; a main valve adapted when in one or first extreme position to connect said pressure space with said primary expansion space andin the other or second extreme position to connect said exhaust space with said primary expansion space; a pilot valve adapted to apply fluid under pressure to move said main valve from each extreme position to the other extreme position; and means for actuating said pilot valve.

3. In a pumping mechanism, the combination of an eduction pipe through which liquid is to be raised; walls forming a pump chamber, a standing valve adapted to close an opening leading from said pump chamber to a source of liquid supply in such a manner as to prevent liquid from flowing from said pump chamber to said source, said standing valve being so constructed as to permit a free flow of liquid from said source to said chamber; a working valve adapted to close an opening between said pump chamber and said eduction pipe in such a manner as to prevent liquid from flowing from said eduction pipe to said chamber, said working valve being so constructed as to permit liquid to flow freely from said chamber into said eduction pipe; a primary expansible member forming a deformable fluidtight wall between said pump chamber and a primary expansion space, said member being so placed that upon expanding it decreases the amount of fluid in said pump chamber and increases the amount of fluid in said primary expansion space; a secondary expansible member forming a fluid-tight wall of a secondary expansion space and separating the fluid in said secondary expansion space from the fluid of the source of supply; a pressure producing means adapted to deliver fluid from an exhaust space to a pressure space in such a manner that the fluid in said pressure space is at a higher pressure than the fluid in said exhaust space; a main valve adapted when in one or flrst extreme position to connect said pressure space with said primary expansion space and in the other or second extreme position to connect said exhaust space with said primary expension space; a pilot valve adapted to apply fluid under pressure to move said main valve from each extreme position to the other extreme position; and means by which said secondary expansible member actuates said pilot valve.

4. In a pump adapted to be inserted inside a well, the combination of: walls forming a continuous liquid-impervious casing immersed in a body of liquid carried in said well; a body of im sulating fluid inside said casing; an electric motor inside said casing; electric conductors for furnishing electric energy to said motor, passing in fluid-tight relationship through said casing and extending to a source of electric energy outside said casing; a pump situated inside said casing and driven by said motor and adapted to pump said fluid and establish a pressure differential on said fluid; a primary fluid-impervious expansible member; means for utilizing said pressure differential to expand and contract said expansible member; and means by which said expansion and contraction of said primary expansible member are utilized to pump liquid from the well.

5. In a pump adapted to be inserted inside a well, the combination of: walls forming a continuous liquid-impervious casing immersed in a body of liquid carried in said well; a body of insulating fluid inside said casing an electric motor inside said casing; electric conductors for furnishing electric energy to said motor, passing in fluid-tight relationship through said casing and extending to a source of electric energy outside said casing; a pump situated inside said casing and driven by said motor and adapted to pump said fluid and establish a pressure differential on said fluid; a primary fluid-impervious expansible member; means for utilizing said pressure difierential to expand and contract said expansible member; a secondary fluid-impervious expansible member; means for utilizing the pressure differential set up by said pump to expand and contact said secondary expansible member; and means by which the expansion and contraction of one of said expansible members are utilized to pump liquid from the well.

6. In a pump adapted to be inserted inside a well, the combination of: walls forming a. continuous liquid-impervious casing immersed in a body of liquid carried in said well; a body of insulating fluid inside said casing; an electric motor inside said casing; electric conductors for furnishing electric energy to said motor, passing in fluid-tight relationship through said casing and extending to a source of electric energy outside said casing; a, pump situated inside said'casing and driven by said motor and adapted to pump said fluid and establish a pressure differential on said fluid; a primary fluid-impervious expansible member; means for utilizing said pressure differential to expand and contract said expansigle member; a secondary fluid-impervious expansible member; means for utilizing the pressure differential set up by said pump to expand and contract said secondary expansible member; valve means for controlling the application of said pressure differential to one of said expansible members; means by which said valve means is actuated by one of said expansible members; and means by which the expansion and contraction of one of said expansible members are utilized to pump liquid from the well.

'7. In a pump adapted to be inserted inside a well, the combination of walls forming a continuous liquid-impervious casing immersed in a' body of liquid carried in said well; a body of insulating fluid inside said casing; an electric motor inside said casing; electric conductors for furnishing electric enegy to said motor, passing in fluid-tight relationship through said casing and extending to a source of electric energy outside said casing; a pump situated inside said casing and driven by said motor and adapted to pump said fluid and establish a pressure differential on said fluid; a primary fluid-impervious expansible member; means for utilizing said pressure difierential to expand and contract said expansible member; a secondary fluid-impervious expansible member; means for utilizing the pressure differential set up by said pump to expand and contract said secondary expansible member; a main valve adapted to control the application of fluid presure to one of said expansible members; a pilot valve adapted to actuate said main valve; means by which one of said expansible members actuates said pilot valve; and means by which the expansion and contraction of one of said expansible members are utilizable to pump liquid from the well.

FORD W. HARRIS.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,152,802.

FORD ,W. HARRIS April t, 959

It. is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows column, line 26, for "marget" read market; claim 5, for "expansion" read expansion;

claim 6, for "expansigle" read utilized;

the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 16th day of May, A. D. 1959.

(Seal) Henry Van Arsdale Acting Commissioner of Patents.

Page 5, second I page second. column, line -59, page 5, second column, line 5, read expansible; line 59, claimT, for "utilizable" and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this ,correction therein that the samemay confonn'to the record of the case in 

